Advanced Materials APC and Open Access: What Wiley Charges for One of Materials Science's Top Journals

Advanced Materials is hybrid. This is worth repeating because the APC number can cause panic:

1. Subscription track (default): Your article appears on Wiley Online Library behind the paywall. Institutional subscribers access it. You pay $0.

1. Open access track (optional): Your article is immediately free worldwide. You pay the APC.

A substantial portion of Advanced Materials articles are still published via the subscription route. Materials science has strong institutional library coverage, meaning most researchers at universities can already access the journal. For authors without an OA mandate, the subscription track works fine.

That said, the OA landscape in materials science is shifting. European funders increasingly require immediate open access, and the Wiley DEAL agreements make it free for many European authors to choose OA. The proportion of OA articles in Advanced Materials has grown steadily since these agreements launched.

Wiley has open access agreements with consortia, institutions and funders in many countries. Whether Advanced Materials is covered depends on each agreement's journal list, so check Wiley's page for your agreement.

The most significant is the German DEAL-Wiley agreement. Germany has the largest concentration of materials science research in Europe, and Advanced Materials has historically attracted a high volume of German-authored papers. Under DEAL, Wiley says corresponding authors at eligible German institutions can publish their primary research and review articles open access without a fee, provided that, in a subscription (hybrid) journal, they order open access at the point of acceptance.

Active agreements in 2026:

Germany deserves special attention here. The DEAL-Wiley agreement was one of the first and largest national transformative deals in academic publishing. Wiley says all primary research and review articles qualify, for the journals on its DEAL list. For eligible German materials scientists, open access in Advanced Materials is effectively free if the journal is on that list and the open access order is placed at acceptance.

The US has no national Wiley deal. Wiley lists several US consortia and university systems (the University of California libraries and the Big Ten Academic Alliance, for instance), but coverage is patchy. Always check with your library.

Waivers and discounts do not apply here: Wiley says its discounts and waivers apply only to fully open access journals, not to subscription journals offering hybrid open access. Advanced Materials is a hybrid journal, so the developing-country waivers and society discounts that Wiley lists for its fully open access titles are not available for the Advanced Materials APC.

Wiley Open Access Accounts: If the corresponding author's institution, funder, or society has a Wiley Open Access Account (WOAA), all or part of the APC might be covered. Eligibility is based on the article's acceptance date and the organization having an active account or partnership arrangement when the order is placed.

If funding is denied: If you request WOAA funding for the APC and your institution, funder or society denies it, you will be required to sign a license for a subscription article before your article is published.

For Plan S compliance, select CC BY at the licensing stage. Wiley offers CC BY-NC and CC BY-NC-ND as alternatives, but those don't satisfy cOAlition S requirements.

Green OA is permitted with an embargo. Wiley's standard policy allows self-archiving of the accepted manuscript (not the published version) in institutional repositories after 12 months. Some agreements shorten this to immediate self-archiving rights.

The article formats. Advanced Materials lists four article types: Research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, and Correspondence. A typical Research Article is around 3,000 to 8,000 words including 3 to 8 display items, and the guidelines say submitted manuscripts can be any length if the scientific content justifies it. That rewards concise, high-impact findings.

Speed of publication. For a selective journal, Advanced Materials moves fast. Wiley reports a 2025 median of 14 days from submission to first decision and 10 days from acceptance to publication. This speed is a major draw in the competitive materials science landscape, where being first to publish a result matters.

Wiley-VCH brand in materials science. Wiley-VCH has a uniquely strong position in materials science through the "Advanced" journal family: Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Science, and several others. Publishing in this family gives authors visibility across the Wiley-VCH materials science ecosystem.

IF trends. Advanced Materials' JIF has been remarkably stable, hovering between 25 and 30 for several years. Some competing journals have seen significant IF fluctuations (Nano Letters dropped from 12+ to under 10), but Advanced Materials has maintained its position in the top tier.

• Page and color charges: the journal's Open Access page lists none, and Wiley says cover, color and page charges are administered separately by individual journals, so confirm with the editorial office

• Supporting Information is hosted online and appears without editing or typesetting (author guidelines)

• VAT or other sales tax may be added to the APC where required by law; Wiley's Open Access page says the quoted prices exclude VAT, GST and other sales taxes

• Reprints are available for purchase but rarely needed

• LaTeX and Word are both accepted. Wiley-VCH provides templates for its Advanced Materials family. Using the correct template avoids production delays.

• Cover images: Advanced Materials features cover images prominently. Suggestions can be sent from acceptance until page proofs are complete. If your design is chosen, you provide the artwork and sign a cost confirmation form agreeing to meet the production costs of the cover; Wiley asks authors to contact the editorial office for details. Generative AI tools should not be used to create cover images.

Advanced Materials is the right choice when:

1. Your materials science finding is genuinely novel and high-impact

1. You need fast turnaround on a top-tier publication

1. Your institution has a Wiley agreement covering the APC, or you're publishing via subscription

1. A concise Research Article suits your results (striking, well-supported)

Consider alternatives if:

1. Your budget can't handle $6,470 and your institution doesn't have a Wiley deal

1. Your work is more specialized (ACS Nano for nanomaterials, Advanced Energy Materials for energy applications)

1. You need a more selective prestige signal (Nature Materials is the tier above)

Before submitting to a journal at this selectivity level, make sure your manuscript meets the high bar. Reviewers at Advanced Materials check novelty, impact, and presentation rigorously. Advanced Materials submission readiness check to catch the problems that lead to desk rejection at top-tier journals.

For more context on how journal impact factors factor into submission decisions, see our detailed guide.

Worth paying if:

• Your funder mandates open access (check Plan S / cOAlition S requirements)

• An institutional Read & Publish agreement covers the fee

• Open access visibility meaningfully benefits your research area

• The APC fits within your grant budget

Consider alternatives if:

• The APC is a personal out-of-pocket expense

• A subscription option or green OA (preprint + embargo) satisfies your funder

• Another OA journal with a lower APC would provide similar visibility

For a manuscript-specific signal before you submit, run an Advanced Materials submission readiness check.

Or see example reports before you finalize.